1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera system for obtaining close-up still or video photographs of a subject, and more particularly, a sterile, disposable camera system including a sterile camera unit and a sterile mounting apparatus which is constructed to be collapsible and disposable such that after the camera system has been used, the sterile camera unit is easily removed from the mounting apparatus and the mounting apparatus can be collapsed and discarded as waste.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior art systems have been devised for mounting photographic cameras relative to subjects to be photographed such that accurate, in-focus close-up photographs of the subjects can be obtained. One such camera mounting system is disclosed in two patents issued to Dine et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,836,927 and 3,687,030.
In these two patents, Dine teaches a camera mounting system having a camera supporting structure which is formed of metal and includes a locator arm attached to a mounting bracket which supports a close-up lens. A camera is placed on the mounting bracket and attached thereto via a screw such that the camera is located at a position which aligns the camera lens and close-up lens. The locator arm includes a picture-bracketing frame for defining a plane at the point of focus of the camera and close-up lens combination. As a result of this structural arrangement, when the picture-bracketing frame is positioned over a subject to be photographed, the subject to be photographed fills the image field of the camera and is in-focus for the close-up lens.
Although the Dine camera is constructed to function as a close-up camera to provide proper focus for photographing an object at close range, it is not suited to meet the demands of present day health care industry described below.
Physicians frequently have a need for photographic records of clinical features of a patient""s condition for documenting medical procedures, for aide in diagnosing and teaching, and for malpractice risk reduction procedures requiring accurate, contemporaneous documentation of medical conditions and procedures.
For example, a dermatologist may wish to photograph skin lesions on a patient. An orthopedic surgeon may wish to obtain photographs of a knee or elbow undergoing surgery at various points during the surgery. An oral surgeon may desire photographs of a patient""s teeth or gums. In each of these instances, the ability to quickly access a photographic system and place a sterile camera at the proper focal distance to reproducibly obtain an in-focus close-up of the area undergoing treatment and then quickly and easily remove the camera and discard the camera mounting system without concern for labor intensive and reliability concerns of recycling equipment is very advantageous.
More particularly, the nature of medical procedures often requires that an object placed in contact with a patient be sterilized. If a camera or camera mounting system, such as the Dine camera systems, is re-used for various patients, the camera must be reloaded with film, and the camera and the mounting system must be re-sterilized. This requires significant time and labor-intensive procedures. Thus, not only the camera, but also the camera mounting system must be thoroughly cleaned, reloaded with film, repackaged and re-sterilized after each use.
In addition, various medical procedures such as surgery and the time pressures associated therewith require that the camera be easily and quickly mounted onto or removed from a camera mounting apparatus and that the camera mounting apparatus occupy as little space as possible before and after use to accommodate available storage space constraints within an operating room or emergency room and to accommodate hazardous waste disposal requirements within the medical environment. The extensive sterilization procedures required for the maintenance, storage, operation and processing of the Dine camera and mounting apparatus or similar systems severely limits its ease of use and availability. There is a significant possibility that the camera and/or camera mounting apparatus when needed could be unsterile and harbor bacteria or other potentially harmful material such as blood or body fluids containing various blood-borne viruses and/or that proper batteries, film and flash may not be readily available and sterile.
Furthermore, the Dine camera and mounting system were not designed to be used in a sterile environment or to be sterilized or re-sterilized. As seen in the Figures of the Dine patents, the Dine camera and mounting system includes numerous components interconnected by many small connecting members; the surface of the Dine system includes small openings, recessed areas, small spaces between mating or interconnected parts, etc. where potentially harmful material can gather and make it extremely difficult to clean and remove such material completely. Therefore, even if the Dine camera and mounting system were cleaned and sterilized according to known, routine procedures, the Dine camera and system might still contain residues of potentially harmful material on the various surfaces of the Dine camera and mounting system. The Dine camera and system could not survive immersion in ultrasonic cleaning vats or liquid soaking sterilization trays.
In addition, the camera-attaching structure of the Dine camera mounting apparatus requires time consuming and potentially difficult attachment operations such as securing a camera in position and rotating a screw to secure the camera to the camera mounting apparatus as well as securing a second set screw to attach the close-up lens plate to the frame.
Further, the Dine camera mounting apparatus occupies a relatively large space because it cannot be collapsed or reduced in size in any way.
Further, the Dine system requires attention to insure that batteries, flash cubes and fresh film are sterilized and available for use and then requires one or more of a battery check and/or replacement operation, a film loading operation and a flash-cube attachment operation. If the components of the Dine system were cleaned, sterilized and re-sterilized, these processes would likely lead to corrosion of electrical contacts and mechanical breakdown over time which would result in a lack of reliability of the Dine system.
Thus, the inability of prior art camera systems to be cleaned and sterilized easily and completely without damaging the system components, to be used quickly and safely in the operating room or hospital environment, to achieve compact and sterile storage have severely limited the applicability and usefulness of the prior art devices.
The present invention is an improvement on the invention described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,017, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
To overcome the problems described above, the preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a sterile, disposable camera system which is always ready for use and avoids the need to clean or re-sterilize or reload the camera or clean and re-sterilize the camera mounting system for re-usage and avoids the problems associated with electrical and mechanical failure of components occurring in recycled devices. The camera system of the present invention includes a unique mounting plate which is sterile and disposable while allowing a camera to be quickly and easily mounted on the mounting plate such that the camera quickly obtains in-focus close-up photographs of subjects of interest at predetermined desired distances and fields of view depending on the choice of the dimensions of the structure and corresponding close-up lens incorporated in the mounting plate. The camera system of the invention is extremely easy to use and store and does not require sterilization, maintenance, film loading, flash cubes, batteries or storage after use. The camera is easily, removably mounted on the mounting plate which is constructed to be disposable such that after the camera system has been used, the camera is easily removed from the mounting plate and the mounting apparatus collapsed and discarded as waste. A new, sterile camera mounting system including a camera mounting plate and a pre-loaded disposable film camera can be used for each new patient thereby eliminating the need to sterilize, store and maintain the camera mounting system.
In the case of a need for use of a non-disposable digital still camera or video camera, another preferred embodiment of the present invention can be used. This other preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a prepackaged, sterilized and disposable camera mounting apparatus which is adapted to releasably receive and reliably support a sterile or non-sterile digital still camera or video camera. The disposable frame can be provided in one sterile packaging and the camera can be provided in another sterile packaging, having been re-processed for each procedure. Alternatively, the former can be designed so as to be sterilized and able to accept a drop-in unsterile digital or video camera and then sealed, e.g. with an O-ring and clamp for sterile use.
The sterile camera mounting apparatus is constructed to be capable of being collapsed during storage and easily expanded into a full size when used. After use, the camera mounting apparatus can again be collapsed and discarded as waste to minimize storage space requirements and refuse space occupancy. More particularly, the camera mounting apparatus may preferably be stored in a folded or collapsed arrangement before use to occupy minimal space and then, the camera mounting structure can be unfolded quickly and easily for use. After use, the camera mounting apparatus can again be collapsed and folded to be discarded while occupying minimal space and avoiding the contamination of present and future sterile environments. The camera mounting apparatus package can optionally include a mini-crowbar device for opening the camera body to obtain the film cartridge in a manner that prevents the film cartridge from being contaminated with bodily fluids that might be coating the camera apparatus.
Among the advantages of the camera system of the present invention are that medical personnel are increasingly protected because of the reduced handling requirements of the disposable system with no cleaning, sterilization or major assembly of a camera or camera mounting structures required; second, space and storage requirements are significantly reduced and ease of use is tremendously increased. Third, the cost, work, and time required for cleaning, sterilizing, and overall recycling of the system components are avoided. Fourth, the inevitable deterioration of mechanical parts and corrosion of electrical parts caused by re-cleaning and re-sterilizing are avoided.
These and other elements, features, and advantages of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to indicate like elements to avoid repetition.